Chicago Cubs: Perfect 25 Man Roster

But seriously, some good players had to be left off the roster. We’re going to break this up into two different rosters.

1. Regular Season 25-Man Roster

2. Postseason 25-Man Roster

With the postseason roster we’ll pick up a position player, since we’ll only have to roster four starting pitchers. That’ll make things a little easier.

But first, here’s a look at my ideal Regular Season 25-Man Roster.

SP – Jon Lester

SP – Jake Arrieta

SP – Jason Hammel

SP – Kyle Hendricks

SP – Dan Haren

These were no-brainers.

RP – Hector Rondon

RP – Neil Ramirez

RP – Justin Grimm

RP – Pedro Strop

RP – Tommy Hunter

RP – Jason Motte

RP – James Russell

RP – Travis Wood

You’d like to see another lefty here, like Zac Rosscup or even Tsuyoshi Wada. Jacob Turner also has a ton of potential but hasn’t been healthy in awhile. CJ Edwards probably isn’t be ready yet and the same goes for Yoervis Medina.

C – Miguel Montero

C – David Ross

C/LF – Kyle Schwarber

No surprises here.

1B – Anthony Rizzo

2B/SS – Addison Russell

2B/SS – Javier Baez

SS – Starlin Castro

3B – Kris Bryant

2B/3B – Tommy La Stella

We’ll get into the decisions here after the OF’ers.

CF – Dexter Fowler

RF – Jorge Soler

LF/RF/3B/2B/1B – Chris Coghlan

Obviously, we’re a bit thin here. But Schwarber can play LF and Fowler/Soler are going to play everyday. We may run into trouble against LHP’s with Coghlan and Schwarber both being LH’ed. I have no problem with Chris Denorifa being the 25th man for that reason, replacing Tommy La Stella. IMO, Javier Baez has to be a bat that’s on the roster.

Now, we’ll get into my ideal roster. If it were up to me, and I had to decide right now, this would be my 25-Man Postseason Roster.

SP – Jon Lester

SP – Jake Arrieta

SP – Jason Hammel

SP – Kyle Hendricks

Dan Haren gets left off.

RP – Hector Rondon

RP – Neil Ramirez

RP – Justin Grimm

RP – Pedro Strop

RP – Tommy Hunter

RP – Jason Motte

RP – James Russell

RP – Travis Wood

We sit tight here, only going with 2 lefties. Depending on the team they drew, if Wada were to be added, I would have no problem leaving Motte off. I don’t think CJ Edwards (as much as I would love to include him) or Yoervis Medina would be ready, same with Jacob Turner. Rosscup would also be in the discussion if they were to add another lefty.

C – Miguel Montero

C – David Ross

C/LF – Kyle Schwarber

Stays the same.

1B – Anthony Rizzo

2B/SS – Addison Russell

2B/SS – Javier Baez

SS – Starlin Castro

3B – Kris Bryant

2B/3B – Tommy La Stella

Also stays the same.

CF – Dexter Fowler

RF – Jorge Soler

LF/RF/3B/2B/1B – Chris Coghlan

LF/CF/RF/3B/2B – Arismendy Alcantara

Personally, I’d like to see Alcantara added. He’s a switch-hitter and can play multiple positions, including the outfield. Some would say it’d be a tall task to bring him up after spending most of the years in the minors (where he’s struggled a bit) but if it were my call, he’d be in uniform. It would probably be Denorfia though and I wouldn’t really have a problem with that.

Below is my optimal lineup.

(1) CF – Dexter Fowler

(2) LF – Kyle Schwarber

(3) 1B – Anthony Rizzo

(4) 3B – Kris Bryant

(5) RF – Jorge Soler

(6) 2B – Javier Baez

(7) C – Miguel Montero

(8) SP

(9) SS – Addison Russell

I know, no Starlin. This could also change with facing a lefty, or not being comfortable with Schwarber in left (for instance, if Hendricks [a fly ball pitcher] is on the mound) or Ross needing to catch.